Marshall headed for redshirt, Richt indicates

ATHENS - Mark Richt came the closest he has to confirming Tuesday that tailback Keith Marshall is headed for a medical redshirt.

Marshall has missed the past seven games after injuring his ankle and knee. He missed most of last season after tearing his ACL, but it came too late to qualify for a medical redshirt. This year he would qualify.

Richt has resisted confirming that a redshirt is even under consideration for Marshall. But on Tuesday he compared it to the 2012 season when quarterback Hutson Mason was due to redshirt unless starter Aaron Murray got hurt.

"If something would have happened to Murray the last game of the year or whatever, he would have played, no doubt about it," Richt said. "So, I'm not going to sit here and say anything in regards to that right now."

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This would be the week that some would call for Nick Chubb to get some rest. Georgia has already lost Todd Gurley for the season, and an injury to Chubb would be a huge blow to the team next week against Georgia Tech, and a potential SEC championship.

But the Bulldogs aren't considering it, head coach Mark Richt said.

"That's crazy," he said Tuesday at his press conference. "You can't. That's why people get beat. They start thinking something different other than get your tail ready for a war. That's how we're thinking, that's how we're preparing."

Charleston Southern is an FCS team, but it has an 8-3 record and gave Vanderbilt a scare, losing by one. Still, ninth-ranked Georgia (8-2) is a prohibitive favorite.

Chubb is the SEC's second-leading rusher despite sharing time much of the season with Gurley. But even with Gurley gone due to injury, the Bulldogs still have other options: Freshman Sony Michel practiced on Monday and Richt said that he will play Saturday "if he keeps practicing and feels good." Sophomore Brendan Douglas, who has mostly just gotten carries when the game was no longer in doubt, could also see more carries on Saturday.

Black jerseys? Maybe next year

Some Georgia players and fans lobbied for black jerseys last Saturday against Auburn. It didn't happen. And Richt said it won't happen for either of the final two games at home.

The last time Georgia broke out the black jerseys it didn't go well. Alabama walked out of Sanford Stadium with a 41-30 win, after jumping out to a 31-0 halftime lead.

But Richt said he wouldn't mind using the black jerseys once a year going forward.

"My goal would be to have one game next year where we could do that," Richt said. "Maybe even have a planned event before the season starts and not have a big secret about it."

In fact, Richt said it could be established that black is a part of the uniform combination.

"Georgia's the red and black. So to have a black jersey to me is not being that far off," he said. "It's not a radical thing at all. So it is part of who we are."

Speaking of colors ...

Richt said he plans to watch Saturday night's Missouri-Tennessee game in his pajamas. But he does not own orange pajamas.

Anytime Georgia has a home game at noon, Richt said, he goes home, showers and puts on his pajamas, then sits on his lounger and watches college football.

This time there's a lot more at stake, as a Tennessee win would give Georgia the SEC East title. But Richt, sadly, does not own any orange pajamas, though he does own many. It's a staple of the Richt household on Christmas eve to give pajamas as a gift to each other so that family members can wear them the next morning. None of them, however, have been Tennessee's color - or the orange of Miami, where Richt played quarterback.

"I don't know if I ever wore orange when Jon (his son) was a Clemson Tiger for a year. I might have one day wore something orange but it was in private," Richt said. "The last time I wore orange was at the U of M back in '82."

Injury updates

Ryne Rankin, a reserve inside linebacker and special-teamer, will miss Saturday's game after having surgery on his fractured left wrist. But Rankin is expected to be able to play against Georgia Tech.

Reserve receiver Michael Erdman, a senior, will miss the remainder of the season after having surgery on his dislocated left wrist.

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